


a long time coming

by sweetflips



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Future Fic, Pre-Relationship, its pretty great, so henry gets to go to disney, the town line isnt there anymore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-07
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-21 16:06:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3698489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetflips/pseuds/sweetflips
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was almost pathetic how long it had taken them to get to this point; where they could just sit in each other's presence without doing so out of necessity or to put on a pretense for Henry.</p>
<p>(900ish words of light, pre-relationship Swan-Mills family fluff.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	a long time coming

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a couple of months ago, so it might not be totally in line with season 4 canon...but that's probably a good thing tbh

It was almost pathetic how long it had taken them to get to this point; where they could just sit in each other's presence without doing so out of necessity or to put on a pretense for Henry. 

Emma stirred another packet of fake sugar into her iced tea, staring thoughtfully at the woman sitting across from her. Regina's attention happened to be elsewhere; Emma's phone, to be exact. The other woman was flicking through the pictures Emma had taken of herself and Henry on the trip the two had taken out of town. Now that there was officially nothing stopping the residents of Storybrooke from leaving, Emma had figured that Henry should get to see more of the world than her old apartment back in Boston. Regina had initially been pretty worried when Emma had suggested it, but together Emma and Henry had talked her into it. Judging by the soft smile on her face as she stared at her smiling son outside of various Disney rides, she wasn't regretting giving her permission. Emma couldn't help but smile herself at the sight. 

“You could join us sometime, you know,” she blurted out. It had been a spur of the moment idea, but the more Emma thought about it, the more she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before. At seventeen, Henry was probably sick of being pushed between both of his parents constantly; it would be good for him to be able to spend time with both moms at once. She said as much to Regina, though she didn't expect the other woman to agree, at least not at first. 

So Emma was considerably surprised when Regina looked up from Emma's phone, gave her a considering look, and simply said, “I'll have to think about it”. 

And just that much was somehow amazing to her; the fact that Regina would even consider spending a full day in Emma's company. The two were...friends, Emma wanted to say, but even she could see their relationship was strained at best. Somehow, that never stopped her from wanting to become closer to the other woman, and not just for Henry's sake, though that was a large part of why. Regina...needed someone in her corner. Other than her own son. And since they were practically family, Emma didn't see why she shouldn't be that person.

“...iss Swan? Miss Swan? Emma.”

Emma blinked, pulled from her thoughts by Regina's impatient tone. The soft look on her face had been replaced with an irritated frown, directed at her. “I'm sorry, what'd you say?” 

Regina looked as if she wanted to further express her dissatisfaction with Emma's lack of attention, but apparently whatever she had said was more important than that, because after a small sigh, she repeated herself. “I'd appreciate a copy of this picture, if you don't mind,” she said, handing over Emma's phone.

“Um...yeah, no problem,” Emma said, barely glancing down at the picture. “I'll e-mail it to you once I get back to the apartment.” She paused. “Wait, you do have an e-mail, right?” 

“I'm from the Enchanted Forest, not Medieval Europe, Miss Swan,” Regina said. “So, yes, I do. My work e-mail will be fine.” 

“Sorry,” Emma grinned. “I just can't imagine you and technology mixing well, for some reason.” 

Regina looked at her like she was stupid. “I fax you paperwork from my office regularly. Though I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't notice, since none of it ever seems to get done.” 

“Wait, seriously? You don't have a secretary or anything to take care of that for you? Even I have David.” Who probably wouldn't appreciate being referred to as a secretary rather than his actual position as deputy sheriff, but hey, he wasn't here to complain, and honestly, secretary suited him much better now that things in Storybrooke had calmed. Even Emma had very little to do as sheriff.

“I'm perfectly capable of doing it on my own,” Regina said. 

“I don't doubt that,” Emma agreed. If Regina was anything, she was certainly a capable woman. “but mayors don't generally do all of the busywork, do they?” 

“Well, this one does, seeing as all of her employees happen to be either incompetent, lazy, or both,” Regina said, sipping delicately at her coffee. Emma laughed, and the corners of Regina's lips quirked upward slightly at the sound. 

“This is nice,” Emma said suddenly, and wow, did she have no verbal filter today, or something? 

Regina raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her, and Emma hurried to explain. “Having a normal conversation for once, I mean. No end-of-the-world scenarios involved.”

“I don't believe the stakes were ever that high,” Regina mused. 

“End-of-Storybrooke scenarios, then,” Emma corrected. “It's still nice.” 

“Well, you're not the worst conversationalist,” Regina admitted.

Emma laughed. “I appreciate your company too, Regina.” 

Regina sniffed. “Don't flatter yourself, Emma. I never said that.”

Emma hummed, taking a sip of her iced tea. “Not in so many words, no,” she said, looking down at the picture Regina had asked her to send, with Henry in his Mickey ears and Emma in her Minnie ears with her arm slung over his shoulders and their faces smiling at the camera. The only picture Emma had taken with both her and Henry in it.


End file.
